*Edited*

"Lee Y/N!"

I instantly sat up and focused my attention on my english teacher.

"Yes Mrs. Jeon."

"Can you tell me what Hawthorne meant when he wrote 'The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man'?"

I paused for a second trying to recollect the homework reading from last night.

"Umm....I uhh....I think he meant that the true monsters aren't the demons or devil himself. In reality the true monsters are us, humans. After all, in the end it's humans who are responsible for the scariest things that have happened in history. War, genocides, hate crimes, all results of human will."

I sighed in relief after forming a answer to the sudden question.

"Great analysis Ms. Lee. Why don't we stop daydreaming and keep that same energy the rest of class."

"Yes Mrs. Jeon." I bowed before sitting back down.

I focused on her lesson for about 5 minutes, then I zoned out again. This time my attention was directed at the empty seat next to mine.

I haven't seen or talked to Haechan since the night of the beach fair. I was still shocked by the events of that night. I might have not been able to see but there was no denying what happened, Haechan had placed his soft lips on mine.

I banged my head on the desk after the memory kept replaying in my head vividly.

I was mad with myself.

How could I let that happen? Why didn't I just go to the exit of the haunted house ride like I was supposed to? That could have been me and Chanyeol but it wasn't, it was that stupid jerk!

The worst part of it all was that it was my first kiss. After getting off the ferris wheel I pretty much ran away and took a taxi home.

Meanwhile, Haechan hasn't been to school the past three days. Even though I didn't want to see him, a small part of me was worried. His and Chenle's suspension was over since Monday so why was he still gone? Me and Chenle made up already but I still didn't want to ask about Haechan. I wasn't sure if they were still mad at each other or not.

As usual I sat down with the boys at lunch. Since I arrived before Chenle, I asked Mark if he'd seen or talked to Haechan.

"Nope." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Last time I checked up on him, he had gotten in trouble by his Dad." Jeno added on.

"But it's not like his dad would ground him from school?" I pushed the thought aside.

The two boys looked at each other, raising my suspicion.

"Right?" I asked again.

"Of course not." Mark laughed. "He probably has been ditching."

"But Haec-" I paused for a moment. "You're probably right."

I didn't believe that he ditched, especially after knowing that he had never ditched until he ditched with me. The boys knew something and they were keeping it from me.

I couldn't explain why, but something was worrying me. I texted Chanyeol to see if he knew anything.

***

Me:

Hii Oppa

Oppa❤️:

Hey Y/N-ah 😉 What's up??

Me:

I was just wondering how Haechan has been?? He hasn't been to school in 3 days now.

Me:

We have a project due that's why I'm asking.

Oppa❤️:

Oh hes been sick

Me:

I see....

Me:

Thanks for lmk :)

Oppa❤️:

Yeah ofc ~

***

I guess Haechan was someone who got sick easily. That explained why he was constantly absent.

Wait did Haechan have some sort of disease? Is that why he was always sick? Was he going to die? Is that what the boys were keeping from me?

I began to worry again.

My mind was restless the rest of the school day. I kept asking myself those questions over and over again, making me worry even more. I decided to pick up his homework at the end of the school day and take it to his house. I don't know why, it's not like he was actually going to do it. Maybe it was just an excuse to check up on him.

When I arrived at his house, Chanyeol's mom opened the door.

"Hi Mrs. Lee." I greeted her.

"Oh hi Y/N." She looked surprised to see me. "Chanyeol isn't home right now."

"I'm actually here to see Haechan." I told her.

She stared at me with a blank expression.

"We have a project due soon." I lied. "I'm just stopping by to give him his part of the work."

"Yes of course." She replied quickly. "Just head up the stairs, his room is down the hall on the left hand side."

I smiled and followed her instructions. When I reached the end of the hall, I noticed the door to his room was slightly open. I stepped closer and peeked through the open crack, only to find him munching away on chips and playing video games.

I rolled my eyes and walked inside his room without warning.

"Ya! What are you doing here!" He yelled out, almost choking on his chips.

"We'll I was told that you've been sick for three days..." I crossed my arms and eyed him from head to toe. "....but you don't look sick to me."

"Sick?" He questioned. "Who told you that lie?"

"Chanyeol Oppa."

"Of course he did." He muttered. "Your precious Oppa is a liar and you shouldn't believe a word he says."

"Ya! Chanyeol Oppa is not a liar!" I stomped my foot in anger.

"Whatever."

"Ya!" I yelled at him. "If he's such a liar then what's the real reason you stayed home?"

"Don't worry about it." He ignored me and went back to playing his video game.

"I didn't come all this way thinking you had some deadly disease, just for you to be at home playing some video game."

He chuckled at my response. "The only deadly disease here is you. Your annoying voice will kill me before anything else."

"That's not funny!" I retaliated by throwing my backpack at his stomach. To my horror, he hunched over in pain as if he had been shot by a bullet.

I didn't throw it that hard did I?

I immediately ran to his side. "I'm sorry, are you ok?"

Without warning, he forcefully pushed my body against the corner of his desk. My entire back was in pain as I tried to catch the breath that was knocked out of me.

Haechan instantly regretted his action. "I'm sorry Y/N."

He reached out to help me up, but I flinched at the sight of his hand.

"Don't touch me." I cried.

I helped myself up and tried to leave but he grabbed me by my wrist.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"But you did."

He pinned me against the wall, not letting me leave. "Please Y/N....I'm sorry."

I was mad and pushed him away from me. As soon as I did though, he grabbed the side of his abdomen in pain.

But I didn't push him hard. I was positive that I didn't, so why was he in so much pain?

"Haechan?......" I grabbed his hand suspiciously, lifting up his sweater to examine the spot which he had been clutching.

I gasped in horror when I saw that his entire abdomen and back had been bruised badly.

"Who the hell did this to you?"

He quickly covered his bruises but it was too late, I had already seen them all.

"I fell." He mumbled avoiding my gaze.

"Don't lie to me." I demanded.

"It doesn't matter."

"But it does." I softened my gaze. "I'm worried about you."

I cupped his cheeks gently and stared deep into his brown eyes.

"Haechan......I'm crazy worried about you. Please tell me the truth."

His eyes were full of sadness and fear.

"It was Chanyeol." He began to say. "It's always either him or my Dad. Ever since my mom di-"

I cut off his sentence.

"Really Haechan?" I crossed my arms in disbelief. "If you're not going to tell me the truth then fine, it's best if I just go home."

"But I am telling the truth." He pleaded.

I scoffed at his words and grabbed my backpack.

"Bye Haechan."